Eilistraee for Pathfinder

Ah, Eilistraee... Every teenage male (and some female) gamer's fantasy goddess. Actually, she's pretty cool when you break down the character. While she has apparently returned to the Forgotten Realms with the advent of the 5e version of D&D, I don't plan on actually running in the Forgotten Realms for a while. I need to see more of what they are doing. Also, I'm financially invested in Pathfinder. 

I really just feel it's important to break down Eilistraee's basic information as a Pathfinder based deity. It should allow her to be used in any Pathfinder setting. I don't need to break down every single rite, backstory, and beliefs. Those have been done on a number of sites. I hope that this information, nonetheless, is valuable to players and GMs alike. 

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Eilistraee

The Dark Maiden

CG goddess of song, dance, sword work, hunting, moonlight, redemption and beauty

Domains Chaos, Charm, Darkness, Good, Liberation

Subdomains Revelry, Lust, Love, Moon, Redemption, Freedom

Favored Weapon Bastard Sword

Symbol A female drow holding a bastard sword in front of a full moon

Sacred Animal wolf

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Sword Dancer of Eilistraee Prestige Class

http://shepardgunn.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-sword-dancer-of-eilistraee.html

~~Traits~~

Moon Dancer (Combat):  You are familiar with the fluid dance of Eilistraeen warriors. You may use you Perform (Dance) skill to move through combat, in place of an Acrobatics check. Also, you gain a +1 bonus to Perform (Dance) and it is always considered a class skill for you.

Mistress of the Hunt (Religious): Having participated in the moonlit hunts with the priestess of the Dark Maiden, you have become a skilled hunter as well. You have gain a +1 bonus to your Stealth and Survival skills. One of these skills is always a class skill for you.

~~Common Racial Trait~~

A large number of followers of Eilistraee have the Surface Infiltrator alternate trait. This is due to prolonged periods of time on the surface. Priestess who regularly infiltrate Drow cities in the Lands Below do not take this trait.

~~Common Classes~~

This is not intended to limit character options, it is meant to provide guidance to players and GMs when considering Eilistraeen characters (both PC and NPC). The classes listed below are those that might be found more often than others among the followers of the Dancing Goddess.

• Bards and Skalds - Both of these performance based classes are seen regularly in the few villages that harbor refugees and the faithful. Bards are more frequent, but skalds are found often in settlements that are regularly threatened. 
• Clerics - This is the most prolific class, beyond a doubt. A large number of Eilistraeens have at least one level of cleric.
• Druid - Due to the often remote nature of most communities that follow Eilistraee, some of her followers express their devotion through the path of the druid. 
• Druids who chose a domain often select Animal, Earth, Panther or Wolf. 
• Common Animal Companions
• Badger/Wolverine
• Bird (Owl)
• Cat, big (tiger)
• Cat, small (leopard/panther)
• Cooshe (elven hound)
• Elk (often as a mount)
• Thylacine
• Warcat
• Wolf
• Some that need to infiltrate the Underdark will select a giant scorpion or spider as their companions. There is some concern, though, about tempting fate with these companions. 
• Fighter - Not surprisingly, with the favoring of sword play as part of the worship, fighters with a sword focus are very common. Cleric/Fighters are actually more common then Warpriests. 
• Ranger and Hunter - These are also found in many Eilistraeen groups. The follow the same patterns of the Druid in regards to animal companions. 
• Rangers normally choose the two-weapon or two-handed weapon combat styles, with a focus on swords. 
• Rangers will choose either the companion bond or animal companion with equal commonality. 
• Magus - Similar to their elven cousins, a number of the followers the Lady of the Dance, enjoy the interplay of sword and magic. It is one of the few arcane classes found regularly among the faithful.
• Oracle and Shamans - Often fulfilling the purposes of advisers, diviners, and educational support. 
• Oracles often choose the following Mysteries:
• Ancestor
• Heavens
• Lunar
• Nature
• Shamans follow similar guidelines for their Spirits. 
• Witch - The most common arcane caster, witches often follow the listed patrons
• Agility
• Ancestors
• Devotion
• Enchantment
• Moon
• Portents
• Stars
• Wisdom
• Swashbuckler - Eilistraeens are sometime drawn to the daring do of the Swashbuckler. The mobility and style of these swordswomen compliment Eilistraee's interest in the sword. 
• Warpriest - Warpriest are only slightly less common than cleric/fighters. They have access to the following blessings:

• Chaos
• Charm
• Darkness
• Good
• Liberation

A note - Occult classes are not included on this list because I see the psychic nature of the classes as rare in most worlds. That's not to say that there's not some Eilistraeen cryokenetist, or occultist digging through lost elven cities. I just don't see them happening in every settlement. 

The Obligatory Star Wars: Episode VII Pontification

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... Ok, now that's out of the way, let's get down to business. There's been a lot of Rampant Speculation going out there about what JJ Abrams "is doing, "needs to do", "should do", "must do", "much ado", etc., etc. This is not going to be one of those rants, at least I hope it's not. What I hope to express in my meandering post is how I feel about the Expanded Universe, especially when it comes to Episode VII (I love how we all type it out as VII, instead of just 7, because we're all "authentic" about that. And yes, he's Lord Vader, Lord Darth Vader! The man deserves respect!) Also, understand that this is being written between phone calls at work, so this may end up a little... disjointed.

Personally, I believe it's an all or nothing approach when it comes to the EU (Expanded Universe for those not as geeky as the rest of us). There's really no other way to approach this sanely.

Going All In!

There's a lot of fans out there that would L-O-V-E this approach. Grab it all, make it "canon", and hug it, and squeeze it, and call it George. There are some advantages to going this way.

First and foremost, the writers get to be Laaazy. There's no need to come up with something new. It's all written, illustrated; characters have been created and fleshed out. Just grab the Thrawn Trilogy and go.  There's material from 30 minutes after the Death Star blowing up to almost a century later! Timeline is all laid out and the continuity is pretty much set in stone. Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher would be in work until they died.

The second advantage is a built in fan base. I mentioned the Thrawn Trilogy because I love the Thrawn Trilogy. I love Thrawn, Pellan, the Noghri, and especially Mara Jade. I would pay to see a Mara Jade stand-alone film. (I would pay to see Mara Jade.) I know the Wife would do the same. There are a lot of people out there that have their personal favorites, and a lot out there that would be guaranteed people in the seats (all dressed up, nice and purdy in their Jedi robes, or slave girl outfits... or Jedi slave girl outfits).

So what do you have? Gobs of money for very little effort? Maybe, but I doubt it. After Episodes I through III, most Star Wars fans have started to become a little more... discriminating.

I'm sure that someone else would find another thousand advantages, but I'm a working boy, and don't have that much time on my hands.

Leave'em Where They Lay!

This is actually my preference. As such, this portion will probably be longer. Yes, I love the EU. Yes, I would love to see the EU made into movies... well some of the EU, and that's where things get messy.

Honestly, the EU sometimes makes as much sense as a drunken role-playing game session ran by someone who just got done watching an '80s cartoon marathon ("Standing across from you is He-Joe, last of the SilverCats!"). The heroes win to have every time, only to have a newer, nastier threat (that Palpatine actually knew about and would have been prepared for) than the last pop up. It's more contrived than the final seasons of Xena: Warrior Princess. Some of the story decisions, when they were made from "On High (at Skywalker Ranch)" made the EU even worse, in my opinion. (They killed Anakin Solo off because George Lucas thought the fans couldn't keep the Vader and the grandson straight.)

Remember those fans that would show up in the costumes with the fake lightsabers? Yeah, they're (we're) as much a possible threat as a help. One little change to the story and the Nerd Rage would look like the Incredible Hulk Family at a mosh pit. There are those out there that would all but burn down the theater if you didn't include simple side character or change that line that Mara Jade said to Luke that one time. Once something outside of "continuity" happened, the interwebs would be alive with trolls and flame wars berating and belittling the director, the writer, the actors, and their little dogs, too.

The smartest thing to do is just lay down the EU gently, and walk away. Don't try to "give it homage". Don't try to pick and choose what is "canon" and what isn't. Don't give it any "true" credibility. Just leave it alone. I pray they just say "Hey, those were some interesting ideas! Too bad that's not going to be in the movie" and move on with their own original ideas.

If I had my druthers, I would druther see the Thrawn Trilogy and some of the other already written EU done as animated movies, with a clear disclaimer that the events are "not canon". This would give the fans the chance to see their favorite books in moving-pictures form, without forcing the "real" movie to pigeon hole itself into the mess of a nest that is the current EU.

Of course, we could always go with what Patton Oswalt's idea. That's always option...

All hands, prepare for incoming Zentradi!

I'm going to have a very interesting Christmas! And possibly drive The Wife insane in the interim months. You see, I pledged to the Robotech RPG Tactics Kickstarter! Robotech is one of my geek-hood "first loves". I used to run home from where the school bus left my brother and me off to my Grandma's every weekday to watch Robotech before we did our homework. The Robotech RPG books were the first roleplaying books I was able to buy after getting the Basic D&D "Red Box". I used to daydream about riding out on Spartan Hovertanks and Cyclone motorcycles, depending on where the local station was at on broadcasting the Robotech saga.

I also have a deep affection for Palladium Books products. I find the inventiveness of the company to make for great fun. I also love the fact that I could have dragons fighting mecha piloted by mutant animals if I really really wanted. I know that there are some people that have some bad feelings about Palladium. I remember tthe "Great Betrayal", and the sundry delays in release. I'm aware of the concerns about power creep. Still, I have found that when I've ran the game I've not had the same issues. Of course, it could be because I normally run Rift at "high power levels", free and loose (Demigods, anyone?). Robotech, though, has always been pretty good at keeping the power creep down to a minimum, and keeping with the heart of the show. 

So, now there's going to be miniatures and a strategy game! It's a childhood fantasy come true! After much convincing, my wife allowed me to contribute initially the $140 for the Battle Cry. When it started, it was pretty nice, but now, with the Kickstarter over, I have all of THIS!

Plus, she let me get the Monster M.A.C. II and the special SDF-1 figure! My wife is pretty awesome. That's why she's getting to be in charge of painting the Zentradi. Hehehe...

The rub is I have months before I get a single miniature. That's a lot of time to try to figure out paint schemes, unit ideas, backstory, special characters and storylines. It's almost driving me insane as it is. I've been considering entering the contest for the painting of the unit, but I suck at using MSPaint. I may have to actually ask someone to do the painting. Also, I'm out of paints, and that's going to end up being my Christmas list for my friends and family. I'm going to need a lot.

Color wise, I'm thinking of going with the following possible paint sets:
Dark Angels Paint Collection

Saim-Hann Paint Collection

The first for the dark green and black paint scheme I've been thinking about (Shinigami Squadron). The other is if I decide to go with a Red Baron/Communist Russia color scheme (The October Guard). I'm really leaning towards the Dark Angel Greens with black trim. I think it would look really nice. 

Well, there's where my mind is spinning out of control. I've got until November/December before the figs will even get here. It's watch, and wait, and daydream... and try not to tell my Wife about it over and over and over and over again.